VOL. 123, NO. 28 THURSDAY, JULY 9 , 2015 SINGLE COPY PRICE: $1.25

www.MiddletonTimes.com

Celebrating local gardens

Middletonians love to garden.Whether its in the privacy of their ownbackyards, or shoulder to shoulder atthe citys massively successful BockCommunity Garden.

So it makes sense that Olbrichs2015 Home Garden Tour will shine alight on the Good Neighbor City thisyear. The tour, which will take placeFriday and Saturday, presents eight ex-ceptional local gardens that demon-strate the ethic of sustainabilitythrough a diversity of styles.

Included will be the neighborhoodof Middleton Hills - a local model ofnew urbanism - where smaller, inti-mate lots are built around generousshared green spaces. On the other end

of the spectrum, large suburban lotsand historic farm properties will show-case fruit orchards, organic vegetablegardens, backyard chickens and bee-keeping. Native plants and prairies,composting and permaculture tech-niques, and cleverly recycled materialsare also being featured.

Olbrich is featuring locations off ofAirport Road, in Middleton Hills, Or-chid Heights and the Bock Commu-nityGarden.

This event draws about 1,000 to1,200 avid gardeners each year, rain orshine. Funds benefit thegardensandthis event is at the heart of Olbrichsmission of sustainability and beauty.

Talk with homeowners, landscapedesigners, master gardeners and Ol-brich volunteers. Learn some of thetechniques employed by these garden-ers who create functional and beautifulspaces that are harmonious with nature.

Sections of the tour are accessible bybike or on foot through the MiddletonMultipurpose Trail, a nationally recog- Times-Tribune photo by Matt Geiger

Seven-year-old Camille Felten was hard at work in Middletons Bock Community Garden late last week. Thegarden will be showcased as part of Friday and Saturdays Olbrich Home Garden Tour.

RollerDerby!

The Mad Rollin Dolls DairylandDolls B team and Team Unicorn takethe track onSaturday, July 11at a newlocal venue - Keva Sports Center, 8312Forsythia St. - in the second home boutof the summer season.

The magical forces of Team Unicornwill look to dazzle the visiting skatersfrom Quad City Rollers MississippiMassacre (Iowa) in the first game of

Fire festSaturday

The Middleton Fire Company No.1s Annual Festival and Raffle, featur-ing live bands, food and fun festivities,will take place on Saturday, July 11starting at 3 p.m. at Capital Brewery inMiddleton.

The local fundraiser will raisemoney to support activities focused oneducating adults and children in thecommunity, and to continue to providethe highest level of care to the fire dis-trict, according to organizers.

This special event is the mainfundraiser for the Middleton Fire Com-pany, and our 120 professionallytrained volunteers are honored andproud to be part of an outstanding com-munity filled with generous businesses,friends and neighbors, said Middleton

State aid for schools plummets

More than half of Wisconsin publicschool districts would receive less gen-eral aid in the 2015-16 school year thanthey did for the 2014-15 school year,according to estimates released by theDepartment of Public Instruction.

The most recent version of the bien-nial 2015-17 budget as of press time

maintains the same level of generalschool aid ($4.476 billion) as was ap-propriated in the 2014-15 fiscal year.Actual aid payments are estimated at$4.346 billion because of statutory re-ductions for the Milwaukee voucher

Olbrich tour shinesspotlight on vibrantMiddleton gardens

Projections show local funding down 15%

Middleton FireCo. hosts annualevent at Capital

See GarDeNS, page 7

See FUNDiNG, page 4

See FireFeSt, page 11

See DerBY, page 6

by Matt GeiGerTimes-Tribune

Times-Tribune photo by Matt Geiger

Freedom Fest with a felineJulia Hylbert and Kate Patterson celebrated the Fourth of July Saturday by attending Freedom Fest at Pio-

neer Park in the Town of Middleton. They were accompanied by Jade, a striking Bengal cat. (Bengals are hybridsof domestic cats and Asian leopard cats.) To see more images from Freedom Fest, turn to page 9.

When I asked Dan Roekle how heand his family got started as metal de-tectors, his answer spoke volumes,We got hooked on the stories!

While on vacation in Florida severalyears ago, Dan and his son saw someretired fellows walking the beach withmetal detectors. The stories that thosemen told about their finds led theRoekles to purchase a basic detectorwhen they got home.

For the first year, Dan and his twochildren went to area parks. While hisdaughter played on the park equip-ment, Dan and his son took turns de-tecting. They felt like it was a good daywhen they found a quarter.

Then Dan discovered a website by agroup called The Ring Finders. It wascreated to help people get reconnectedto lost wedding or other special rings.

The Ring Finders offers a directoryof people who love going out with theirdetectors to help in those recoveries.There is a small fee for the service tocover time and gas.

Since adding his name to the list onRing Finders, Dan and his children -12-year-old Carter and nine-year-oldKylie - have been collecting their ownstories.

The latest story involves a Madisonarea man named Al who lost a ringgiven to him in honor of 25 years ofservice at a local insurance agency.The ring was lost when Al was mowinga greenway near his home.

Some tree branches hung low. So,as Al passed them on his riding lawnmower, he had to reach out and raisethem. As he was raising one, a smalltwig hooked his gold ring with a blackonyx center and three diamonds, fling-ing it into the grass.

Al immediately stopped, got a rakeand searched for a long time withoutfinding it. He searched several timesin the year that passed, always wonder-ing if it was still out there.

One Sunday Al was reading TheWisconsin State Journal and cameacross an article by Doug Moe aboutthe Roelke Family ring-finding activi-ties. Al called right away. HeresDans account of the find as posted onhis Ring Finders blog.

Al only lived about 15 mins away,however, as we pulled into his drive-way it started to rain. Argh. We decidedto give it a shot anyways, and headedto the backyard. Al explained how helost it again, and we started to searchthe area. We got some hits right away,but all turned out to be junk. Youd besurprised how much junk is buried inyour backyard. I always tell people notto get discouraged when we dont findtheir ring right away, and we assuredAl that wed keep looking until wefound it. I widened the search areaaround the tree, not knowing how farthat branch might have flung the ring.After about 20 mins, my daughter saysto me, That tree over there looks a lotlike this tree. Im not sure if Al heardher or not, but a min later he said,Maybe it was closer to that tree. Sureenough, after moving over the veryfirst hit we got was Als ring about aninch below the grass.

Al had thought about renting ametal detector himself, as many peopledo, said Roelke. But, so many of thepeople who I talked to who do that, getreally frustrated.

There are many things to learn aboutmetal detection, including the types oftones that each unit emits, indicatingthe types of metal and the depth of ob-jects. It takes trained eyes and ears todiscriminate between the junk andwhat youre looking for.

When roofs get redone, Roelkecontinued, there are metal scraps andnails flung everywhere. Lots of peoplegive up when they dont know what tolisten for.

Rings lost outdoors are at the mercyof Wisconsins freeze and thaw cycles.Heavy metals like gold and silver getpulled down lower with each cycle.

Good metal detectors will detect 10-

12 inches deep. The deeper the object,the more interference they are likely toencounter from junk that is also buried.

Because of the additional discre-tionary payments that the Roelkeshave received from people who aregratefully reunited with their rings, theRoelkes have been able to upgradetheir equipment to include a detectorsthat work at deeper levels and in water.

Roelkes favorite find to date, wasbecause of their water-detector up-grade.

The call came from a man who losthis wedding ring in Web Lake, a sixhour drive north from Middleton. Heagreed to pay for the travel and offereda nice fee if we found it, said Roelke.

Getting the story of how the ring islost is very important in finding itagain. Knowing the story helps to de-termine the possible trajectory anddepth of an object.

In this case, the Web Lake man wasspinning his grandson in a tube just offof the pier when his wedding ring waslost. It was a wax-molded ring, made

to match his wifes ring. They had been married for 27 years.

The ring-maker, who was a familyfriend, had since passed away so thering was irreplaceable.

After three hours of searching, theydidnt find it. They convinced themans wife to throw her ring into thewater so that they could get a readingon what a good hit would sound like.She didnt like the idea at first,Roelke reported, but she finallyagreed.

After a lunch break they went out totry again. The area in front of the pierused to be a common sand bar. Lots ofpeople used to dock their boats in thearea and get out to swim or play in thewater. That seemed to explain whythey found 15 bottlecaps, six pieces ofjunk metal and somebody elses wed-ding ring.

Dan kept working while his son tooka break to swam for awhile. After ashort time, Dan felt a tug on his shirt.His son was standing beside him, hold-ing the ring they had been searching

for. During the search, they used a scoop

made specifically for sand. A foot onthe scoop gives leverage to the scoopwhich is at the end of a long handle.They disturbed a lot of sand in their ef-forts. Thats how they think that thering in question came to the surfaceand was stepped on by Dans son.

The Roelkes still have the secondring and have run ads in search of theowner.

It doesnt matter how long yourring is lost. What matters is that youknow the area it was lost in and how itwas lost. We can even detect throughsnow.

There was a blind fellow who wasplaying tug-of-war with his dog. Hetook his glove off and his wedding ringfell into the snow. It got stepped intothe snow so his wife couldnt find it.We were able to find it in five minuteswith the detector.

Roelke added, I love connectingpeople back with what theyve lost.Its not just the rings, but the memoriesand everything else thats attached tothem. When the phone rings and I getthat look in my eye, my wife knowsthat she wont see me for awhile.

In addition to upgrading their equip-ment, Roelke donates some of the pro-ceeds from the rewards to hischildrens school, the West-side Chris-tian School in Middleton.

Now that his daughter is older, shehelps more actively in the searches.Sometimes those searches are initiatedby insurance companies.

Its a win-win-win situation, saidRoelke. The owner gets their ringback, the insurance company pays lessthan a claim on the ring, and weve hadanother fun hunt.

If youve lost a ring and would likeassistance from the Roelke family, youcan find their contact information ontheringfinders.com. Click on UnitedStates, then Wisconsin, then Madison.Dan Roelke is the exclusive RingFinder in the Madison area.

Dan Roelke and his children haveused their metal detectors to connect 26people with lost rings. Photo taken byEllie Roelke.

PAGE 2 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Ring finding is a family affairby DeB BiechlerTimes-Tribune

Dan Roelke and his family find both missing rings and great stories

Photo contributedDan Roekle with his son, Carter, and daughter, Kylie.

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 3

I have been on the Board of Direc-tors at MOM for almost eight years.There are many great causes in ourcommunity but the reason I chose todevote my time to MOM is becauseof its organizational efficiency (over82% of the funds that are donated toMOM are used for the purpose ofserving clients) and because of the di-rect impact we have on the lives ofthe people in our community.

Everyone deserves a secondchance. MOMs clients are predom-inantly people that have been dealt atough hand and are in the process ofworking their way to a better placefor themselves and for their families.

The bottom line is when I donate

my time, talent and treasure to MOMI know it is being used to fulfill thegreatest needs in our community.

First Business Bank has been anactive supporter of the not-for-profitcommunity for many years and isproud to include MOM in the list ofthe many organizations we have sup-ported over the years. The Banks$10,000 gift to MOMs Capital Cam-paign is a testament to our commit-ment to the community and ourconfidence in an awesome organiza-tion thanks for all the great thingsyou do in our community, MOM!

For 35 years, MOM has workedtirelessly to address the most criticaland basic needs of the Middleton,West Madison and Cross Plains com-munities. The $1.4M Building Hope,Strengthening Communities Cam-paign supports the purchase and ren-

ovation of the consolidated facility at3502 Parmenter St. in Middleton thathouses the MOM food pantry, cloth-ing center and administrative offices.The campaign started in the summerof 2013 and has raised more than $1million so far with the help and gen-erosity of individuals and businessesfrom the area. MOM is asking forcommunity help in raising the last$400,000 needed to meet the goal tohelp MOM eliminate a long termmortgage and allow them to redirectthose funds to help more people withmore services.

To learn more about MOMs ef-forts to prevent homelessness andend hunger through the BuildingHope, Strengthening CommunitiesCampaign, visit momhelps.org/cam-paign.

Superintendent Don Johnson andadministrative staff recently updatedthe board of education on the latest de-velopments from the Joint FinanceCommittees budget adjustments toGovernor Walkers original budget.Johnson said his greatest concern wasthe changes to the states funding for-mula for voucher and public schools.

Johnson said the new voucher planwould allow up to one percent of a dis-tricts enrollment to receive voucherseach year for ten years before remov-ing the cap.

The threat of the voucher systemcould really undermine us in a signifi-cant way, Johnson explained. Theone percent over two years isnt such ahuge thing, but when start talkingabout one percent, and five percent,and ten percent, then having the capoff. The direction really is to go to-wards a Nevada style model which iseverybody gets a voucher and they gowherever they want.

Johnson said there are many prob-lems with that model, but one of themany is that it is subject to transporta-tion.

Generally the wealthy have accessto transportation and the poor dont,Johnson added.

The other part of the voucher sys-tem that is really a concern is that evenif we dont have lots of students thatare in the voucher system the state aidformula certainly requires our taxpay-ers and all taxpayers throughout thestate to start paying at a local level,Johnson explained. The entire systemis subject to a reduction in support andevery time we raise taxes for vouchersor anything else at the statewide level,in terms of local dollars we have thatmuch more of a difficult time passinga referendum.

The board briefly discussed the im-pact of emerging charter schools. John-son says he thinks more will pop uparound Dane County because metro-politan areas can accommodate moreof them.

When hedge fund managers talkabout charters and how that is the nextbig investment you know it is going tobe big time, said board member EllenLindgren

Assistant Superintendent for Educa-tional Services, George Mavroulis, saidthe legislature is now proposing return-ing to the old law on college credits,which would have parents pay ratherthan districts.

The board budgeted $50,000 tocover the cost of the Cooperative Aca-demic Partnership Program (CAPP)credits with UW-Oshkosh earlier thisyear. Marvels said UW-Oshkosh wasoriginally going to charge the District$30 per credit but indicated it wouldcharge families $90 per credit. Heasked them why the fee changed andthe university said it had reconsidered.

Mavroulis also suggested using the$50,000 the board allocated to help stu-dents on free and reduced lunch pay forthose credits. He believes that shouldmore than cover the cost to the District.

Board member Paul Kinne sentJohnson a list of questions about thestate of education in the budget. John-son said he could answer about 80 per-cent of the questions but the rest hadhim stumped. He said he talked withJohn Forrester who is a lobbyist withSchool Administrators Alliance andeven he could not answer all of thembecause many that are nuanced the leg-islators who write the bills havent re-ally considered nor responded to.

Trying to figure this out is sort ofdifficult because sometimes Im notsure the legislators knew what theywere proposing or why so to make ac-quisitions is a little dangerous becausewe dont always know what the intentwas, Johnson said. Youre trying tofigure that out and do your best atguessing, but it is difficult because youdont want to be negative, but you alsowant to be aggressive in finding outwhat this really means.

It is a bit of a dilemma and it seemslike every Thursday or Friday there issome new proposal that does not havea lot of detail that we have to sort out,Johnson said.

by caMeroN BreNTimes-Tribune

by JiM hartlieBFor Middleton Outreach Ministry

MOM Testimonial: part of a new series

Photo contributed

Jim Hartlieb (left) with Al Ripp, executive director of Middleton Outreach Ministry.

First Business Bank: How we are BuildingHope and Strengthening Communities

A continued look at how theMiddleton-Cross Plains schoolboard grappled with state budget

PAGE 4 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

SSERVICEERVICE CCLUBLUB NNEWSEWS

Photo contributed

Kiwanis welcomes BohseMiddleton Kiwanis newest member, Melissa Bohse, was recently welcomed into the club by president Kathy

Nieber-Lathrop and sponsor Chuck Foulke.

program and for independent (2R)charter schools.

According to the same report, aid inthe Middleton-Cross Plains AreaSchool District is set to fall by 15.14percent (more than $1.2 million),reaching to $7,037,228 in 2015-2016.

Of the states 424 school districts, 55percent (234) are estimated to receiveless general aid in 2015-16, while 44percent of districts (188) are expectedto receive more aid. Two districts haveno change in the aid estimate betweenthe 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal years.With school aid being held at the samelevel as the prior year, other factorssuch as property valuation, enrollment,and shared costs in the general equal-ization aid formula impact whether theaid estimate for a district increases ordecreases.

State statute requires the department

to compute an estimate of the generalschool aid each public school districtwill receive for the coming school yearby July 1. School personnel use the es-timate to complete their annual budg-ets. On Oct. 15, the department willcertify state general aid amounts for2015-16 based on audited 2014-15data. Estimated general aid to districtsmay change.

The departments July 1 aid estimatedoes not include per pupil categoricalaid, which will be based on studentmembership from the 2015-16, 2014-15, and 2013-14 school years (thirdFriday in September count). That aidwill be paid in March 2016. The cur-rent budget appropriates $127 millionfor that aid, which is $150 per pupil,the same amount as it was in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

FUNDiNG continued from page 1

Battle of theBadges willhonor Pagel

Its that time of year again - Battleof the Badges is right around the cor-ner.

If you havent already heard, the2015 honoree is 15-year old JacksonPagel from Middleton. He just finishedhis freshman year at Middleton HighSchool, he loves sports (especially bas-ketball) and his idol is Taylor Swift (he

See Battle, page 7

Good Neighbor Awarddeadline is Monday

The Trustees of the Middleton GoodNeighbor Festival are seeking nomina-tions for this years Good NeighborAwards. The Good Neighbor Awardrecognizes an individual, or individu-als, who make a difference in the Mid-dleton community and embody what itmeans to be a Good Neighbor. Nomi-nee/s must reside in Middleton.

Nomination Forms can be found atgoodneighborfestival.com or you canemail them at middletongoodneighbor-festival@gmail.com and they will sendyou one.

Reading the nominations is alwaysheart-warming and uplifting, saysTamra Dagnon, 2015 President of theGood Neighbor Festival. People doso many great things to support ourcommunity and a lot of hard work goeson behind the scenes. I invite you torecognize one of your outstanding

friends, neighbors or associates thisyear by nominating them for a GoodNeighbor Award.

Nominations must be received byMonday, July 13, 2015 either by mailor electronically. Addresses providedon the nomination forms. You can viewa list of past winners at goodneighbor-festival.com/awards-2/

The Good Neighbor Festival hasbeen bringing the Middleton commu-nity together since 1964. The event in-cludes family fun, live music, food,carnival rides, crafts and a 5-kilometerrun/walk. As the major fundraiser ofthe year for Middletons non-profit or-ganizations, the festival supports char-ities and worthy causes throughout theMiddleton area, Dagnon said. Thisyears Good Neighbor Festival is Aug.28-30. For more information, go towww.goodneighborfestival.com.

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 5

the evening, with pie and braggingrights to the winners.

The second game will feature Madi-sons internationally ranked DDs Bteam as they face off against the Min-

nesota Roller Girls B team, the Min-nesota Nice, in their first evermatch-up and whats sure to be a knockdown, drag out, and ridiculously fun towatch contest.

Tickets for the bout are $12 in ad-vance or $15 at the door. Kids agesfour through 10 are admitted at halfprice, and 3 and under are free.Doorsat5 p.m.and the action starts at 6.

There will also be an after party atKeva with volleyball courts, foodtrucks, and more.For information onpurchasing tickets, a complete seasonschedule and more, gotomadrollindolls.com.

PAGE 6 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Photo by Clay Hill Buy tickets for Saturdays Roller Derby online at www.brownpapertickets.com.

DerBY continued from page 1

CHURCH NOTES

Nameof crashvictimreleased

The Dane County Medical Exam-iners Office is releasing the name ofthe man that died following a motor-cycle crash on June 21.

The crash happened on the Townof Westport on Meffert Road, west ofHwy Q, and was reported to author-ities at or about 6 p.m.

The deceased man was the onlyperson on the motorcycle at the timeof the crash and he has been identi-fied as Christopher Ziegler, 49, ofWaunakee.

A forensic examination was com-pleted at the Dane County MedicalExaminers Office on June 22. Pre-liminary results of that examinationdisclose that Ziegler died from in-juries he sustained in the single mo-torcycle traffic crash.

A portion of the proceeds fromthis game will got benefit FetchWisconsin, an organization thatsaves the lives of at-risk dogs inhigh-kill shelters by providing careand rehabilitation and matchingthem with loving, forever homes.

nized community trail system.JtCovelli, of JtCovelli Marketing &

MediaResources, Inc., has worked onthe tour since 1994. She said the localgardens featured this year display thesame emphasis on ethics not just aes-thetics that Olbrich Botanical Gar-dens in Madison continues to strivetoward.

What we were looking for was

home gardeners who really share thosesame values, explained Covelli. Thatmeans lots of pollinators, fewer pesti-cides, less monoculture, better com-posting and more native plants. Itmeans using chickens, rather thanharmful chemicals, to fend off Japan-ese beetles and other pests.

And finding plants that will notonly live, but thrive, she said. Youre

not seeing those fussy roses you wouldsee 10 years ago.

Each garden will be hosted bytrained Olbrich volunteers. The ad-dresses of the gardens are printed onthe event tickets but not released to thegeneral public.

It was delightful to meet all thesepeople and see how much they careabout their gardens, Covelli com-mented.

Those who are just learning aboutBock Community Garden, the City ofMiddletons enormously popular com-munity garden located within the 19-acre John C. Bock Urban Forest, willsee vegetables and flowers in fullbloom.

This unique all-organiccommunitygarden includes individual plots, foodpantry plots, a childrens garden, nativeplant beds, a berry patch and fruit or-chard. As part of the Bock CommunityForest in Pheasant Branch Conser-vancy, gardeners tend a native plantand tree nursery and participate in on-going restoration work in the adjacentprairie and oak savanna.

Bock is gorgeous, my goodness,exclaimed Covelli.

Abby Attoun-Tucker is the City ofMiddletons assistant director of com-

munity development. She played an in-tegral role in making Middletons firstcommunity garden a thriving reality.

The Bock Community Garden is aunique model on conservancy landwhere the gardeners grow vegetablesand fruit for themselves as well as do-nate produce to the Middleton Out-reach Ministry food pantry,Attoun-Tucker commented. Last year,the gardeners donated 1,600 pounds oforganic produce.

She went on to point out that localcommunity gardeners are invested inthe restoration of the native prairie andoak savannah and they care for oakseedlings, which are eventually trans-

planted into the Bock Forest. I consistently hear that the Bock

Community Garden is one of the nicestlooking gardens in the area, Attoun-Tucker continued. This is due in largepart to a strong garden board and gar-deners who understand that the gardenneeds to fit cohesively into the conser-vancy setting and needs to look nice tokeep the nearby neighbors happy.

The Home Garden Tour ticket alsoincludes a coupon for free admissionfor one person to Olbrichs BloomingButterflies up to a $7 value.

Olbrichs Home Garden Tour issponsored by Avant Gardening &Landscaping, Inc.; Backyard Havens;Chalet Ski & Patio; Estate The TreeCare Specialist; The Flower Factory;Jung Garden Center; Kleins Floral andGreenhouse; Madison Area MasterGardeners Association; and The VineryStained Glass Studio. Media sponsorsare Isthmus and Wisconsin State Jour-nal.

Olbrich Botanical Gardens is lo-cated in Madison, Wisconsin on theshore of Lake Monona at 3330 AtwoodAvenue. For more information call608-246-4550 or visitwww.olbrich.org.

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 7

A severe housingshortage is develop-ing in Dane County,both in single-familyhomes (below$750,000) and inmulti-family housingas well. A series offactors have collidedto create the shortagethat will last for manyyears. The question will be - where areall these new people going to live, be-cause there are simply is not enoughhousing for them.

The unemployment rate has droppedbelow 3.5%, which means more peopleable to afford to live on their ownrather than live with their parents orshare an apartment. The population ofDane County is estimated to increaseby almost 50% from the year 2000 to2030, which means an additional200,000 people, which equates to aneed for approximately 90,000 apart-ments or 3,000 a year, and thats beforethe real and accelerated growth that themetro area is actually experiencing isfactored in.

By comparison, while the number of

new multi-family units being con-structed each year has (only recently)increased to about 2,400 units (county-wide), over l,000 of those are studenthousing units located downtown, so thereal supply count for market rate apart-ments is less than 1,400 or less thanhalf what is actually needed to satisfydemand each year.

Then consider that 59% of Millen-nials would rather rent than buy andonly 25% would consider buying ahome in the next 5 years, in addition tograduating students holding an ap-palling average student loan debt of$30,000 along with a strong desire tolocate in cities rather than bedroomcommunities, and you have the mak-ings for a severe multi-family shortage.

The overall market is being influ-enced by a number of trends, includingthe millennial generation, which is re-ported to be 20% larger than the babyboom generation and 5 years longer.The next decline, if you can call it that,in the birth rate started in 2007, whichmeans that the end of this very largegeneration wont hit the multi-familymarket until about 2029 or 22 yearsfrom 2007. Likewise, that lower birthrate wont impact the single familymarket until their late 20s to early 30sor about 2036. Until then, every year

more and more Millennials will begraduating from school and enteringthe apartment housing market.

The frustrating part is that in spite ofthis severe shortage of multi-familyhousing, with every development andat every neighborhood meeting and atevery public hearing, developers en-counter neighborhood opposition toapartment development. Their un-founded fears are based in the old no-tion that apartment renters are lowincome, poor, criminal in nature andspell trouble for their neighborhood.

Ive now gotten in the habit of ask-ing neighbors to raise their hands ifthey have never lived in an apartment.Invariably, only one person in the roommay raise their hand. And in spite ofreminding them that at one point intime, they too were all apartmentrenters, they fear that their home valueswill decline if luxury apartments showup across the street.

Take note: Not a single neighbor-hood has experienced a decline inhomes values after my developmentshave opened; they have all increased invalue, and why is that? Because thetraditional suburban neighborhood istypically made up of housing that is allalike, occupied by a similar demo-graphic profile of similarly aged home

buyers (young parents) who, once theybecome empty nesters all around thesame time, will experience a decline intheir home values as everyone exits theneighborhood at the same stage of theirlives.

By comparison, neighborhoods thathave luxury apartments have a built inpool of future home buyers. Thoseyoung renters will eventually all moveover time and buy or build homes inthe same neighborhood because that iswhere they initially established theirfamily, friends, church and other com-mitments. As a result, the housing in aneighborhood that has a strong pool ofrenters available, increases in value asdemand for those homes remains con-stant and strong.

Besides, new apartment construc-tion costs so much more today than inthe past, and new apartments includemany features not found in most singlefamily homes, such as granite kitchenislands, stainless steel appliances, andmuch more. In fact, in one case ofhome owners on the east side com-plaining about my coming apartments,their home values werent that muchmore than the new apartments willcost, hardly justifying a claim thatmulti-family is inferior. Likewise, theexterior of our multi-family buildings

are comprised of high quality brick,stone, and hardiplank siding that willlast a century or more vs. the exteriorof many inexpensive single familyhomes in existing subdivisions, whichis usually vinyl siding.

So the saga continues; developerspropose new housing; neighbors resist;and young people as well as olderempty nesters who want to sell andmove into multi-family housing toavoid the maintenance and upkeep,will continue their struggle to find highend apartments that will provide the al-ternative they need.

In the next column, well discuss anumber of incredible growth storiesthat are driving the need for multi-fam-ily housing, and how constraints bygovernment are severely restrictingnew supply. Meanwhile, parents ofyoung hires coming to Madison willcontinue to call us desperate and cryingbecause their son or daughter cant findan apartment even though their he orshe starts their new job in a matter ofweeks.

Up Against the Wall is a monthlycolumn written by Terrence Wall andreflects his views and opinions, anddoes not necessarily reflect the viewsof the Middleton Times.

GarDeNS continued from page 1

Battle continued from page 4

UUPP AAGAINSTGAINST THETHE WWALLALL

by terreNce r. WallGuest Column

Wall

Why the upcoming housing shortage will be severe

actually calls her a Goddess). Last year, Pagel was diagnosed

with osteosarcoma, a rare cancerousbone tumor, and he has been undergo-ing treatment as he continues to battlethis disease. He lives in Middleton withhis parents, Jim and Susan, and he hasan adult sister who lives out of state.He has been very active in basketballand other sports at MHS, in fact,

through Team J Pagel his teammatescompleted this great tribute that can beviewed on YouTube.com.

Battle of the Badges will takeplaceSaturday, August 8, 2015, at Fire-fighters Memorial Park on PleasantView Road.

The tentative schedule will be simi-lar to last year, with the 5K run/walkstarting around8:30amand the soft-

ball game between Middleton Police,Fire & EMS starting at10am.

Organizers are also accepting do-nations and checks can be made outto BATTLE OF THE BADGES andmailed to or dropped off at the PoliceDepartment.Website:battleofthebadgesmiddle-ton.com(5K registration is now avail-able online).

Tickets are $12 for Olbrichmembers and $14 for the public,$6 for children age three to 12and free for ages two and under.Tickets will be sold at OlbrichsGrowing Gifts Shop from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. through July 9. Tourday tickets will be sold at theTour Center: Bock CommunityGarden starting at 9:30 a.m. onFriday and 8:30 a.m. on Satur-day.

6th Grade Recognition Awards (4th Quarter)The sixth grade teachers at GlacierCreek Middle School use StandardsBased Grading. The sixth graderecognition awards are determined byexcellence in academics and/or excel-lence in habits of learning. The fol-lowing students have demonstratedproficiency or advancement in all ac-ademic areas and/or proficiency oradvancement with their habits oflearning. An asterisk (*) denotes stu-dents who have demonstrated profi-ciency or advancement in bothcategories.Abreu, LuisAccola, Melanie *Acker, Brianna *Ahuja, Vashima *Andler, JacobAumann, Wilhelmina *Bakken, JonathanBallweg, ColinBarrett, Allison *Barrett, HaileyBasel, Alexander *Belgiano, Jonathon *Bernd, EmilyBiessman, NatalieBogner, IanBohachek, Ian *Bolden, PiperBrandon, LucasBukhman, Eugenia *Burkard, Samantha *Button, Alexander *Buza, Eleanor *Caldwell, Erin *Casper, Ainsley *Chang, Kevin *Chiaverini, MichaelCovey, JakobCrump, BrunoCulver, LeoDahmen, QuintDavis, Kobi-Ann *De Young, MichaelDehuma, Dehuma, Jose RubenDettmann, JordanDjamali, Aria *DOrazio, Ella *Duecker, Anna *Dunn, NolanEmmerich, RubenEngelien, MasonEngelkes, TaylorFaessler, Malia *Fisher, Fiona *Friedle, Ava *Frinzi, Leona *Gadalla, Yousef *Gassen, Calvin *Giefer, Rose *Go, Maria *Go, Michael *Gonzalez, SaffronGreenheck, Jenna *Grosspietsch III, Carl *Gustafson, Michael *Hebert, Olivia *Heise, Nicholas *Henke, SaraHidrogo-Romero, JessicaHink, Avery *Holahan, Bridget *Hornung, Ashley *Howard, Zoe *Howardsmith, BennettHoyer, Chase *Hunt, JohannaHurd, DavidJasinski, MatthewJensen, ElenaJohns, McKenzie *Joswiak, CaseyKalscheur, Grace *Karls Niehaus, Cianna *Keohane, Mei Mei *

Kolodziej, Taylor *LaCour, Alexander *Leyva Castellanos, MariaMartin, Norah *Mcnerney, JosephMohrbacher, KaitlynMolander, MackenzieMurray, Jackson *Nelson, ChristopherNewman, ClaireNie, Zinnia *Noak, Lily *OMalley, Timothy *Ott, BethanyOzers, AndrewPaige, NicholasParente, Michael *Passini, McKennaPatterson, Elleanor *Pertzborn, Sawyer *Phaneuf, MadelinePoehling, LaurenPowers, Paige *Prabahara Sundar, Poojha *Prichard, Zachary *Prohaska, AvaProhaska, Isabel *Pugliese, Luigi *Rapacz, OliviaRenfert, Koby *Ropa, Darshana *Roquitte, MaxwellRough, AlexanderSabol, Morgan *Sax, CharlotteSchollmeyer, Ryan *Schutte, JackShimniok, AbigailSlinde, Calvin *Smith, Benjamin *Smith, Phileas *Sprecher, Rachel *Squire, Ian *Stoecker, Kayla *Svendsen, Samuel *Theis, TylerThomley, Allison *Thompson, AdenThor, Blake *Underwood, Olivia *Veit, DylanVogel, Isabel *Vosburgh, SophiaWeiler, KateWhitehead, Callista *Wilson, Karson *Winkler, Parker *Wissink, OliviaWolle, BertramWood, Charles *Yang, Suabcua *Yosick, Sydney *Yosick, Zachary *Zacatzontetl Huitzil, LuisZeimentz, Michael *Zhang, Edwin *Zhang, Julia *

7th Grade Honor Roll* denotes 4.0Acker, Lauren R *Ahuja, Aniket *Anagnostopoulos, Alexandra A *Anderson, Julia G *Baco, Laura IBallamudi, Apurupa LBauerle, Megan J *Bebermeier, Cailin MBiwott, Ashley J *Bodenstein, Cheyanne MBoehnen, Elizabeth M *Bovy, Jessica SBursac, Karina *Carlson, Cian RCoffini, Alexander J *Davis, Ross IDe Oliveira, Sophia CDeJarlais, Daniel LDeptula, Cole M *

Ehrhardt, Noah S *Fargen, Jacob D *Frusciante, Brian A *Gattenby, Tanner JGehrke Kallstromer, Alicia N *Gehrke Kallstromer, Emelie S *Gilles, Braedon D *Ginsberg, Kyra B *Godishala, ShreyaHanson, Kaitlyn GHellenbrand, Jordan J *Helt, Sydney L *Hillebrand, Lexi MHinz, Nicholas S *Hodson, Makenzie L *Hoferle, Peter JHuff, Tyler WHylbert, Julia LIsmail Ali, MoyraaJackson, Joelle NJafari, AmiraliJasinski, Micheline PJens, Bryn E *Johnson, Ashton S *Johnson, Brandon I *Johnson, Ekaterina MJohnson, Paxton JJones, Cecelia MJoslyn, Katherine M *Kalscheur, Blake S *Karbusicky, Andrew P *Kelliher, Mason RKjentvet, Jack CKriewaldt, Thomas MLaBoda, Lane PLarsen, Samuel RLawrence, Madelyn RLemirande, Josie LLenz, Andrew WLeRoy, Jackson T *Lindblom, Cecilie VLivelli, Victoria MLuetscher, Seth MMaas, Katelyn MMacLean, Brad M *Mallannagari, Sai Likhith RMcCulley, Jae MMcGill, Megan CMcLain, Natalie AMichaels, Allison LNeedham, Abigail JOstlie, Anna M *Pao-Huang, Yao-Tian PParthasarathy, Shruti *Patterson, Katherine APavelski, Jacob WPhaneuf, Ashlyn KPientka, Jessica L *Pongratz, Katelyn GReed, Ashton EReed, Payton MRoach, Logan MRoesch, Amanda ARogers, Ella R *Rudolph, Samuel PSchwartz, Megan J *Sommers, Grace CSoni, AbhavSrinivas, AnakaStafford, Ethan JSteiner, Lauren E *Steinmetz, Grace ETanin, Sitori I *Teff, Drew MThomas, Jada K *Van Gilder, Hayden RWesterlund, Julian RWhritenour, Ryan MWilson, Tyler G *Ystenes, Roman E7th Grade Honorable MentionDehuma Dehuma, MelisaFritz, Amber LHellenbrand, Amanda LHoffmann, Madelyn RKalscheur, Brooks CKelshiker, Akshay IKnight, Kaitlin MMalcheski, Madelyn H

Oza, Param HRankin, Dylan SSchulenberg, Deserae ESchultz, Logan TSemrad, Drake DShanley, Connor LThomas, Bret TWozniczka, Jackson M

8th Grade Honor Roll* denotes 4.0Aegerter, Hannah S *Albert, Ava H *Allen, Andrew R *Ballweg, Allison RBallweg, Austin SBarbian, Jennifer JBarrett, Alexis LBender, Zakary JBertz, Braeden NBliss, Lydia S *Bogner, Alexandra L *Boras, Jenna R *Bote, Sophia M *Bruhn, Jamison WByington, Taylor LCarr, Julia MCarrington, Dylan MChafe, Andrew SChandler, Megan EClose, Samuel ADatta, Meghna *Djamali, Sawm G *Drake, Lauren MDraves, Nicolas DDunn, Charlotte R *Engelien, Madeline FErnst, Hannah Y *Faust, Colette EFermanich, Julia M *Frinzi, Keller L *Gattenby, Tayla J *Gaxha, Gino LGessler, Samuel RGold, Ryan D *Grelle, Kevin W *Hellenbrand, Connor C *Henderson, Ayden RHidrogo-Romero, MirnaHinz, Emma MHoferle, William JHolewinski, Cooper WHornung, Kelsey C *Horst, Lauren NHouck, Alicia MHoughton, Allison KHunt, James RHuntington, Madison LJagoe, Abigail MJensen, Lauren KKalsbeek, Colin NKalscheur, Dylan DKalscheur, TylerKeebler, Anna M *Keebler, Emily S *Keenan, Kyra R *Keith, Moira R *Knoke, Elizabeth N *Kostas, Georgios *Kuhn, Nina-Soleil C *LaBoda, Grace FLarsen, Ashlyn ELaufenberg, Hannah ELeach, Hannah K

Leonard, Avery ELepage, Matthew T *Mack, Cora R *Maier, Eric M *Martin, Andrew JMartin, Sophia L *May, Mallory MMcEllistrem, Aidan PMcLain, Daniel W *Meicher, Kevin FMetzger, Catherine KMolina, Eric RMondi, Jack CNeuser, Kyle R *Newman, Ellie LOlson, Paige EOwens, Caitlynn R *Pansegrau, Elizabeth LPertzborn, Brittany RPierantozzi, Alexander J *Rawling, Gillian SRoberson, Rachel I *Roberts, Rachael CRoenneburg, Owen LRoll, Jon HRough, Taylor RSabol, Karina R *Sanchez Guevara, Joanelle DSchlicht, Kyra A *Schollmeyer, Allison MSchwartz, David R *Serra, Collin J *Singh, Shailaja C *Sisk, Simon PSpahn, Courtney NStahnke, Alexis C *Stetzenbach, Grahm EStewart, Erik RStewart, Laura E *Stoppleworth, Colten AThomley, Anna L *Tonnesen, Brittany A *Waldsmith, David O *Wensing, Hannah K *Woldt, Samantha C *Wood, Sarah KYang, Jason C *Zander, Victoria A *Zimmerman, Jakob AZuengler, Hannah G *8th Grade Honorable MentionBookstaff, Isaac RBurkard, Nathaniel JCastellanos-Martinez, Jesse KDermody, Shea MDiMiceli, Sarah NDucke, Keegan NFrey, Logan AHart, MaKayla LHebert, Broderick MHeidenreich, Luke AKochan, Reed MKozitzky, Mia RKruchten, Shae-Lynn RKurr, Veronica LLewis, Caroline ELincecum, Erin TLivelli, Olivia VMcCray, Azaiah VRogers, Margaret FThompson, Emma RZimmerman, Anna T.

PAGE 8 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Glacier Creek Middle School announces honors

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 9

Times-Tribune photos by Matt Geiger

Scenes from the Town of Middletons 4th of July festival

Clockwise from top left: Olga Meric De Bellefon on the baseball field, Noeland Sarah Lambert suited up in fire gear, three-year-old James Meinholzlooks up as the flag is hoisted, Middleton firefighters raise the flag, ScottWalker (not that Scott Walker) offers up his slow-smoked star spangledbeef brisket.

FREEDOM FESTFREEDOM FEST

PAGE 10 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 11

fire chief Aaron Harris.Fundraising through this annual fes-

tival has helped the Middleton FireCompany associates fund purchasesfor things such as equipment for re-sponse vehicles, personal protectiveequipment, thermal imaging cameras,AEDs, efforts to preserve our history,and educational purchases for the com-munity. The Middleton Fire Companyhas an Insurance Services Office (ISO)Class 3 rating, ranking the Company inthe top three percent of fire depart-ments in the country.

What could be better than to spenda summer evening listeningand danc-ing to great bands, enjoying deliciousfood with a cold Capital Brewery bev-erage, and all in the company of friendsand family! Our annual MiddletonFire Company Dance should be at thetop of your list of summer events not

to be missed! commented JohnMaasch, Captain of the Middleton FireDepartment. It is truly inspiring to seeour all the surrounding communitiescome out to enjoy this event in supportof our volunteer Fire Department.

Saturdays festivities feature an In-teractive DJ and kids activities from 3-4 p.m. Live music kicks off at 4 p.m.with Reloaded, playing a mix of 70s-todays music. The headlining bandwill be a pure 80s rock experiencewith the Kings of Radio from 7:00 pmto 11:00 pm.

Admission is $7 at the door. Foodwill be available for purchase. Youmust be of legal drinking age to enterthe beer area. Capital Brewery is lo-cated at 7734 Terrace Avenue, Middle-ton. Advance tickets may be purchasedfor $5 at the Companys fire station lo-cated at 7600 University Ave.

FireFeSt continued from page 1

The Middleton Fire Company is in its 114th year of providing fire protection and service to over 32,000 residents,businesses and visitors of the 55 square mile Middleton Fire District. The Company is made up of over 120 Statecertified volunteer firefighters, Rehab Technicians and Fire Corps Personnel. Our organization is professionallystaffed by volunteers and approaches our firefighting responsibilities with professionalism, commitment and deter-mination.

PAGE 12 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 13

Middletons best of the bestIts almost reaching the point of

absurdity.And you wonder, how can things

get any better?During the 2013-14 school year,

Middleton captured a Big EightConference championship (either reg-ular, postseason, or both) in 14 of the22 sports it competes in. Thats aremarkable 63.6%.

Middleton was represented at statein 14 of its 22 sports. And theCardinals brought home top-five fin-ishes at state in seven different sports.

Picking the best of those achieve-ments is tougher than avoiding con-struction in July. But heres one per-sons opinion on Middletons Best ofthe Best last school year.

Girls team of the year:Tennis

Bridget Bellissimo spent her juniorseason playing tennis on the USTAcircuit. Bellissimo had a blast, but alsobelieved 2013 could be a special sea-son at Middleton High School.

So last fall, Bellissimo rejoined theCardinals. And her belief that magicwas in the cards proved extremelyprophetic.

Middleton enjoyed the finest sea-son ever, and capped it with the firstWIAA Division 1 state title in schoolhistory.

I came back because I love thesegirls so much, Bellissimo said. Theoffseason, playing in USTA tourna-ments that was great. I mean I had alot of competition, and it made me See BeSt, page 10

RobReischel

into a better player so I could comeback and help this team even more. (Astate title) was our ultimate goal frommy freshman year and we haventdone it until now.

And what a ride it was.Middleton defeated Green Bay

Southwest, 5-2, in the state quarterfi-nals. The Cardinals then edgedMequon Homestead, 4-3, in a semifi-nal match for the ages.

The match was tied, 3-3, and theonly players left on the court were atNo. 2 singles. Middleton No. 2 singlesplayer Kaisey Skibba trailed 4-1, inthe third set, but rallied for thrilling 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) victory over AnnaKreynin.

That gave the Cardinals an exhila-rating 4-3 win over Homestead and atrip into the state finals.

People have always compliment-ed me on my mental game and its justsomething thats good to have,Skibba said. It really is (important)not to think about your emotions, butthink about just the match.

Skibbas rollercoaster match leftsome of her teammates on edge.

File photos

Middletons girls tennis team (top) was the Girls Team of the Year after winning the WIAA Division 1 state championship. Below, Ernest Winters and Middletons boys track and field team werenamed the Boys Team of the Year.

PAGE 14 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014

M i D D l e t o N S B e S t o F t h e B e S t

I literally thought I was going topass out, joked teammate AllisonRagsdale. I was hyperventilating.

Darcy Hogendorn and EmilyOberwetter were so nervous theycouldnt watch, but they followedupdates on Skibbas match via Twitter.

When we heard about Kaisey weboth just started sobbing, crying,Hogendorn said. I feel bad for notwatching, but at the same time, I knewKaisey could do it.

That sent the Cardinals to thefinals, where they had a much easiertime, rolling to a 5-2 win over EauClaire Memorial.

When we beat Homestead, it feltlike the finals to us, but it wasnt. Westill had another round, said BaylieGold, who plays No. 2 doubles. Itwas kind of hard to get the momentumgoing but, once we did, it was good.

Added Oberwetter: Emotionswere definitely running high rightafter we beat Homestead. It was crazy.But most of us have played the EauClaire Memorial girls before and weknew we had a pretty good shot atbeating them.

They did exactly that and put abow on the most amazing year in thehistory of the program.

Honorable mention: Golf (third atstate), cross country (fourth at state),swimming (third at state), gymnastics(fourth at state), track and field (ninthat state), basketball (Big Eightchamps), soccer (Big Eight champs).

Boys team of the year:Track and field

Its been a consistent progression,played out over the last handful ofyears.

Middletons boys track and fieldteam has been trending upward for thepast several seasons. But 2014 tookthe cake, with the Cardinals repeatingas Big Eight Conference champions,then finishing fifth at the WIAADivision 1 state meet.

It was fulfilling to finish off thisseason accomplishing our goal of atop-five finish at state, Middletoncoach Isaac Mezera said. We broughta huge crew, making this finish a trueteam effort.

Kimberly won the title with 57points, while Wisconsin Lutheran(47), West Bend West (38), Racine

Park (37) and Middleton (34.50)rounded out the top five.

The star of the Cardinals show wassenior Ernest Winters, who won the100-meter dash. Winters was alsothird in the 200 and anchoredMiddletons 400-meter relay team thatfinished second.

When I crossed that line I couldntbelieve it, Winters said of winningthe 100. All I could think about wasthe first day of track freshman yearbecause thats when it all started. Veryhumbling experience. I cant explainhow happy I was to experience thisweekend with the team.

Several other Cardinals had terrificweekends, too.

Andy Keeler was second in thehigh jump with a leap of 6 feet, 6 inch-es.

I am very happy with 6-6, Keelersaid. I think I could have had anotherjump in me, but sometimes it justdoesnt go your way. Since I finishedthird last year, Im glad I could betterthat place and help my team out inoverall points.

Middletons 3,200-meter relayteam of junior Roger Waleffe, juniorZach Shoemaker-Allen, sophomoreJosh Arandia and sophomore PerrinHaage was seventh (7:52.88). SeniorParker Johnson tied for eighth in thepole vault (13-6).

Many other Cardinals had memo-rable weekends, as well. AndMiddletons finish capped a year inwhich this program on the rise tookthings to new heights.

This has all been really hum-bling, said Keeler, who will competeat UW-Milwaukee next season. Justto be a team on the rise, and coachMez is just so excited all the time.These guys have become like family.Its just so much fun.

Honorable mention: Golf (fourthat state), baseball (state qualifiers),cross country (state qualifiers), volley-ball (state qualifiers), tennis (statequalifiers).

Girls coach of the year:Becky Halverson, golf

Becky Halverson knew the possi-bility existed.

Just not in 2013. And certainly notwith the girls golf season only days

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See BeSt, page 11

File photo

Becky Halverson was named Middletons Girls Coach of the Year.

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 15

M i D D l e t o N S B e S t o F t h e B e S t

BeSt continued from page 10naway.

Jeff Kenas, Middletons girls varsi-ty golf coach since 2007, accepted ajob as Dean of Students at MiddletonHigh School in early August. And oneof the stipulations was Kenas give uphis coaching position.

Enter Halverson one of the topplayers in the history of Middletonsprogram and a Cardinals assistantcoach the last 14 seasons.

Halverson was hired almost imme-diately after Kenas turned in his resig-nation.

I definitely didnt see this com-ing, Halverson said.I hope that theonly noticeable difference is that thecoach that is on the course talking tothe girls is a female.

It was.Middleton, blessed with a deep and

talented roster, didnt miss a beat. AndHalverson was a big reason why.

Middleton won the Big EightConference dual meet season with aperfect 9-0 record. The Cardinals thenwon the conference tournament, assenior Meggie Acker their No. 5golfer stunned the field and cap-tured medalist honors.

Middleton won its own regional assenior Sheenagh Cleary earned medal-ist honors. Then the Cardinals won theMadison West Sectional when LorenSkibba was the medalist.

The Cardinals capped it all off witha third place finish at the WIAADivision 1 state meet. Middleton washoping for bigger and better at state,but the year was an enormous success.

For my senior year, it was a lot offun, Hunter Schultz said. I think wemade the most of it.

Halverson agreed.I enjoyed the year and I know the

kids did too, Halverson said. Wedefinitely wanted to be higher (atstate), but third is nothing to hang ourheads about.

Honorable mention: LaurenCabalka (swimming), CherieHellenbrand (softball), Kari Steck

(gymnastics), Tara Franklin (track andfield), Jeff Kind (basketball), IsaacMezera and Cindy Bremser (crosscountry).

Boys coach of the year:Tom Schmitt, baseball

Winning state championships takesa heap of talent mixed with plenty ofgood fortune. Middleton baseballmanager Tom Schmitt experiencedthat ultimate high during his first sea-son on the job back in 2003.

Schmitt and the Cardinals haventhoisted a gold ball since that magicalseason. But Schmitt has built a pro-gram that rivals almost any in thestate.

And 2014 was another banner year.Middleton reached the WIAA

Division 1 state tournament for thesixth times in 12 seasons. And eventhough the Cardinals lost in their quar-terfinal game, they continue toimpress with their consistency andsteadiness.

Just the consistency is something Ithink were proud of, Schmitt said.As a program, I think weve just beenreally steady.

They sure have.In Schmitts time, Middleton is

220-80 overall, a .733 winning per-centage. The 2014 team did its part,and was a microcosm of the type ofprogram Schmitt has built.

Middleton was led by a stronggroup of seniors that got better andbetter as the year went along. TheCardinals played solid, fundamentalbaseball throughout the season.

And Middleton reacted well toadversity, eventually finishing theyear 21-9 and winning its own sec-tional.

At the heart of it is Schmitt, whoruns a stern, but fair ship. Schmittnever seems to get too high or low,and his teams seem to benefit greatlyfrom that approach.

The 2014 group was the simply the

See BeSt, page 12

File photo

Tom Schmitt was named Middletons Boys Coach of the Year.

latest.I couldnt have asked for a better

team, senior Alex Elliott said. Thisis a great group of guys and Im reallyproud of where we came from. At thebeginning of the season, we had sometough games. But we really turned itaround in the second half and Im real-ly proud of our guys.

Honorable mention: Tom Cabalka(golf), Isaac Mezera (track and field),Ben White (volleyball).

Girls event of the year:Big Eight Conference golfmeet

Meggie Acker could be a posterchild for perseverance.

Middletons senior golfer spent theearly part of the 2013 season bouncingbetween the Cardinals varsity and JVteams. But by the end of the year,Acker was playing the role of hero.

At the Big Eight Conference meet,Acker captured medalist honors with a2-over-par, 74. Ackers big day helpedthe Cardinals win the league title bythree shots over Verona.

To be honest, I didnt think that Iwould be able to shoot under 75, saidAcker, whose previous low was 79.Any time I shot 81 or lower, I wasthrilled.

I think that today proves to otherplayers, besides myself, that you havemore in you than you think. You canreach your goals if you keep workingtoward them and keep your head up.

Acker certainly did that.Acker was a key member of

Middletons varsity team as a sopho-more and junior. And she helped theCardinals finish in sixth place at the2012 state meet.

But Middleton had an influx ofyoung talent in 2013, putting Ackersspot in the lineup in jeopardy. ButAcker responded with some of thebest golf of her life.

And Ackers performance from theNo. 5 spot in the lineup at the BigEight meet was among the highlightsof the Cardinals year.

I was upset when I didnt make

the returning state-qualifying team,Acker said. I had a rough tryout andwe have a lot of talent on our team.

Part of me thought that I hadburned out and I just wasnt at thatskill level anymore. However, I stuckwith it and worked hard.

Being on JV for the first fewweeks pushed me to work harder.Every practice I was focused anddetermined to improve from the startof practice to the end. It paid off. I was

able to work my way back up to theNo. 5 spot.

And the No. 1 spot at the confer-ence meet.

Boys game of the year:Middleton 54, MadisonMemorial 50

Middletons boys basketball teamdidnt have the type of season it hopedfor. But for one glorious night in early

December, all was right in theCardinals world.

Middleton, which had lost 20 con-secutive games to Madison Memorial,stunned the Spartans, 54-50. That wasthe Cardinals first win over theSpartans since Feb. 3, 2005 a spanof nearly nine years.

As a player, you hear it in thebackground that Memorial hasMiddletons number, said Middletonsenior point guard Luke Schafer. So

to finally beat these guys feels great.Middleton head coach Kevin

Bavery entered the game with an 0-17record against the Spartans. And after-wards, Middletons student bodystormed the court.

At first, it was like, Did we actu-ally just win this? Middleton seniorDerek Rongstad said. Weve had somany close losses to them. But thewhole thing felt like a playoff game. It

PAGE 16 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014

M i D D l e t o N S B e S t o F t h e B e S t

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BeStcontinued from page 11

n

File photo

Middleton golfer Meggie Acker turned in a memorable performance at the Big Eight Conference meet last fall.

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 17

M i D D l e t o N S B e S t o F t h e B e S t

was really exciting.Rongstad led the Cardinals with 16

points, while senior forward DemondHill added 10. Schafer scored eightpoints, including three clutch freethrows in the final 39.7 seconds, whilesenior forward Oelerich had all six ofhis points in the critical fourth quarter.

Middleton trailed, 43-42, with 7:15left in the game. But the Cardinalswent on a 12-5 run and held on fortheir most memorable regular seasonwin in years.

They beat us, Madison Memorialcoach Steve Collins said. No ifs, andsor buts. They beat us. I cant think ofanything we did better on the floorthan they did. So take your hats off tothem.

And wave goodbye to the streak.

Girls senior athlete of theyear: Liz McMahon, basketball/soccer

First, McMahon led Middletonsgirls basketball team to a Big EightConference championship. Then, shedid the same for the girls soccer team.

McMahon received first-team all-Big Eight Conference honors in bothsports, and was a first-team all-stateselection in soccer.

In basketball, McMahon ledMiddleton in rebounds (9.0) and steals(3.0). She also finished third on theteam in scoring (9.8).

Liz was a little down in scoringthis year, but that was probably aresult of more balanced scoring fromthe team as a whole, Middleton girlsbasketball coach Jeff Kind said. Shewas a great competitor and herrebounding and ball hawking abilitywere crucial to our success.

During the soccer season,McMahon allowed just 0.63 per game.The Wisconsin Soccer CoachesAssociation then named her first-teamall-state.

McMahon had spent two seasonsbehind Meghan Ledin, who plays forthe University of Wisconsin. ButMcMahon certainly made the most ofher chance.

What impressed me the mostabout Liz on this squad is her atti-tude, Middleton girls soccer coachMary Duffy said. Waiting for yourchance is a hard road and she has han-dled it with grace and passion.I havesaid this multiple times and have toldLiz this myself: she is the ultimateteam player.I can think of no one elsein my 16 years of playing sports thatcomes close to the ultimate team

player more than Liz McMahon. She literally threw her body all

over the field. She might be divingfive feet off the ground day in and dayout for practice, but never complainedabout her lack of time in the net.Shesat on that bench the past couple ofyears with pride in her team, spirit inher cheers for her team, and a positiveattitude for all the emulate.

Honorable mention: Darby Raffel(softball/basketball/cross country),Delaney Foster (cross country/trackand field).

Boys senior athlete of theyear: Luke Schafer, foot-ball/basketball/baseball

It didnt matter whether it wasAugust, January or June. When LukeSchafer was presented an opportunity,he delivered.

First, Schafer was a first-team all-conference cornerback during footballseason. Schafer was then an honor-able-mention all-conference selectionduring basketball season, and finallyhelped lead Middletons baseball teamto state.

Schafer, a quarterback in 2012,

BeSt continued from page 12n

See BeSt, page 14

File photos

Clockwise, from topleft:

Derek Rongstadand Middletons boysbasketball team had amemorable night lastDecember, snapping a20-game losing streakto Madison Memorial.

Liz McMahon, abasketball and soccerstandout, was namedthe Girls SeniorAthlete of the Year.

Luke Schafer, whostarred in football, bas-ketball and baseball,was the Boys SeniorAthlete of the Year.

moved to cornerback in 2013 wheninjuries hit Middletons defensivebackfield.

Schafer took to his new positionrather quickly, and the coaches in theleague certainly noticed. In six gamesat cornerback, Schafer had eight pass-es defensed.

What can you say about LukeSchafer? Middleton football coachTim Simon exclaimed. His heart wasat quarterback, but he said, Ill dowhats best for the team. And thatswhat a leader and a captain does.

He sacrificed his first love andthat helped us to be a second placeteam in the conference. And thecoaches respected how good of an ath-lete Luke is.

During basketball season, Schaferfinished second on the team in scoring(12.0), second in assists (2.0), secondin steals (1.2) and third in rebounding(4.0). Schafer shot 44.4% from three-point land and 72.4% from the freethrow line.

Luke was that day-in and day-outhigh effort and high energy guy for us practices and games alike,Middleton basketball coach KevinBavery said.

Schafer got off to a slow start dur-ing the baseball season, but picked uphis play and helped the Cardinalsreach the WIAA Division 1 state tour-nament. Schafer will now take his tal-ents to the University of Iowa, wherehell play baseball for the Hawkeyes.

Honorable mention: Kasey Miller(football/baseball), Ernest Winters(football/track and field), DerekRongstad (football/basketball), AndyKeeler (volleyball/track and field).

Girls breakthrough athlete: ElizabethNorregaard, jr., basketball

For anyone who saw it with theirown eyes, the game will be burned intheir brains for years to come.

Middletons girls basketball teamwent to Janesville Parker in lateJanuary. And Cardinals junior guardElizabeth Norregaard erupted for 32points.

Norregaard made 13-of-23 shotsfrom the field, including six three-pointers. And her 32 points were themost by a Middleton player sinceAngie Halbleibs 44-point effort dur-ing a WIAA state tournament game in1993.

Wow. I had no idea, Norregaardsaid that night. Thats really neat. Iguess Im pretty proud.

Norregaards first year with theCardinals was certainly something tobe proud of.

Norregaard was born in England,then moved to Chicago when she wasthree. Her family later moved just out-side of Copenhagen the capital ofDenmark before coming toMiddleton in the fall of 2013.

Norregaard was one of the leaguesmost dynamic scorers and led theCardinals with 13.5 points per game.She also led the Big Eight Conferencewith 60 three-point shots and wasnamed second-team all-league.

Elizabeth gave us an excellentscorer and three-point threat, whichresulted in teams face-guarding herthe last portion of the season, Kindsaid. Shell come into next season asone of the premier scorers in theleague.

That was something JanesvilleParker found out the hard way lastseason.

You cant give her room and youcant go behind screens to try and getto her, and thats what we did,Janesville Parker coach Tom Klawittersaid that night. But with some ofthose shots, theres really nothing you

PAGE 18 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014

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Basketball standout Elizabeth Norregaard was named the Girls Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.

can do about it.

Honorable mention: RachelEverson, fr., softball; Bria Lemirande,fr., girls basketball; Alexis Thomas,fr., girls basketball; MadelinePflasterer- Jennerjohn, fr., gymnastics;Logan Welti, soph., volleyball.

Boys breakthrough athlete: Jake VanEmburgh, fr., tennis

It didnt take long for tennis sensa-tion Jake Van Emburgh to make hismark.

In his first and perhaps only season with the Cardinals, VanEmburgh finished third at the WIAADivision 1 state meet. Thats the bestfinish ever by a Middleton player atstate.

Im really glad I did high schooltennis, Van Emburgh said. But Idont know about next year or theother years.

Ive missed a lot of national tour-naments (this spring) and thats hurtmy ranking. It would probably be

tough to come back and do highschool again.

If Van Emburgh is indeed done atMHS, it was quite a ride.

Van Emburgh entered the statetournament with a 21-1 record andwas the tournaments No. 2 seed. VanEmburgh lost in the state semifinals,but rebounded to win the third placematch.

Van Emburgh whose fatherGreg is the mens head coach at theUniversity of Wisconsin was thetop-ranked freshman in Wisconsin thisyear.

Van Emburgh said throughout theyear he enjoyed playing for MHS. Buthe had to miss several USTA eventsduring the high school season, leavinghis future somewhat cloudy.

If Van Emburgh elects not toreturn, it was a terrific ride.

Ive had a great time, Jake said.When youre playing without a team,its lonely when you lose. This hasbeen a lot of fun.

Honorable mention: GusNewcomb, fr., cross country/track andfield; Perrin Haage, soph., track andfield.

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 19

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Tennis star Jake Van Emburgh was named the Boys Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.

PAGE 20 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014

Middletons Home Talent Leagueteam continues to roll.

And by the looks of it, it will take amonumental effort to slow themdown.

Middleton toppled RichlandCenter, 6-2, on July 4. Middleton thenrolled past Plain, 11-1, on Sunday in agame stopped after six innings due tothe 10-run mercy rule.

Middleton pushed its winningstreak to 11 games and improved to12-1 in the Northern Sections EastDivision.

Middleton holds a 1 game leadover second place Ashton with threegames left in the regular season. Andthe two wins assured Middleton of noworse than a second place finish in thedivision.

Overall this was a big weekendfor us, Middleton manager BrandonHellenbrand said. These were twomust win games for us.

Middleton wanted to give acepitcher Drew Farrell some rest lastweekend, and started Cory Hachagainst Richland Center.

Hach responded by throwing 7 1/3strong innings. Hach allowed just twoearned runs, struck out two andwalked two.

A.J. Redders threw the final 1 2/3innings and didn't allow a run.

Cory really stepped up for us,Hellenbrand said. Cory was able togo out and throw strikes.

Redders led the offense with a 3-for-4 afternoon. Brandon Scheidleradded two hits and two runs.

Scheidler helped Middleton grab a1-0 first inning lead. Scheidler singledto start the game, stole second andlater scored on Eric Simons RBI sin-gle.

Middleton made it 2-0 in the sec-ond when Redders singled to open theframe, moved to second on Farrellsbase hit, and later scored on an RBIsingle by Scott Brabender.

In the third, Middleton got threeconsecutive singles by MikeBrabender, Redders and Cole Cook tomake it 3-0.

In the fourth, Scheidler singled andscored on multiple errors to make it 4-0.

And in the sixth, Mike Brabenderwalked with the bases loaded andRedders had an RBI groundout tomake it 6-0.

Richland Center scored once in thesixth and again in the eighth, but itwasnt enough.

On Sunday, Middleton trailed visit-ing Plain, 1-0, in the bottom of thefifth. But Middleton erupted for eight

runs in the fifth and three more in thesixth, and the game was stopped dueto the 10-run mercy rule.

Simon earned the win, throwingfive innings while allowing just fourhits and no earned runs. Drew Farrellthrew the final inning, striking out theside.

Eric continued to have great suc-cess on the mound, Hellenbrand said.He threw strikes and let his defensedo the work.

Redders continued his big weekendat the plate, going 3-for-3 with a homerun and three RBI. Kevin Dubler went2-for-3 with a home run, a double andthree RBI.

In Middletons huge fifth inning,Farrell had a one-out, sacrifice fly totie the game, 1-1. Then afterMiddleton loaded the bases, JoshHinson and Mike Brabender wereboth hit by pitches to bring home ScottBrabender and Scheidler.

Andrew Zimmerman singled to theright side to score Dubler and Hinsonand make it 5-1. Redders then fol-lowed with a three-run home run toleft field that made it 8-1 and was adagger to Plain.

Middleton added three more runsin the sixth on a three-run home runfrom Dubler.

On deck: Middleton is atWaunakee Sunday at 1 p.m.

July 6Middleton 11, Plain 1 (6)Plain ......................... 010 000 1 4 1Middleton ................ 000 083 11 12 1

Pitchers (ip-h-er-bb-so) Gorman (L; 4.2-5-6-2-0), Noble (0.1-4-3-0-0), Brey (1-2-1-0-0); Simon (W;6-4-0-0-3), Farrell (1-0-0-1-3).

Leading hitters Middleton Dubler (2x3), A.J.Redders (3x3).

HR Dubler, A.J. Redders. 2B Dubler.

July 4Middleton 6, Richland Center 2 (8)Middleton ................. 111 102 00 6 10 1Richland Center .................. 000 001 01 2 9 3

Pitchers (ip-h-er-bb-so) Hach (W; 7.1-8-2-2-2), Redders (1.2-1-0-0-1); Walsh (L; 4-8-1-2-2),Schildgen (5-2-2-6-2).

Leading hitters Middleton Schiediler (2x6),Redders (3x4); Richland Center Killoy (3x5), R.Hemling (2x5).

2B R. Hemling.

Cross Plains 11, Reedsburg 4;Cross Plains 10, Plain 0 (7) TheBusinessmen won a pair of games lastweekend and put themselves in posi-tion to claim the divisions fourth andfinal playoff spot. Cross Plainsimproved to 7-6 on the year and holdsa two-game lead on Waunakee (5-8)for the fourth playoff spot.

On Sunday, Kyle Schicker earnedthe win as the host Businessmen rolledpast Reedsburg. R.J. Sarbacker,Kenny Allen and Drew Meinholz eachdrove in two runs for Cross Plains.

The Businessmen also routed Plainon July 4 as Ken Allen threw a four-hit

shutout. Allen struck out 10 in a gamestopped after seven innings due to the10-run mercy rule.

Tyler Fuhrman led the offense,going 4-for-4 with four RBI. DrewMeinholz also went 3-for-3 with adouble.

July 6Cross Plains 11, Reedsburg 4Reedsburg ................ 101 010 001 4 8 1Cross Plains .................. 311 311 10x 11 16 1

Pitchers (ip-h-er-bb-so) Peyer (L; 4-9-8-4-1),Dorn (3-6-3-1-1), Ebright (1-1-0-1-0); Schicker (W; 5-4-2-4-4), Haack (4-4-1-1-1).

Leading hitters Reedsburg Alonzo (2x3);Cross Plains J. Lochner (2x5), Fuhrman (3x4),Sarbacker (3x4), Meinholz (2x2), C. Lochner (2x4), Fruik(2x3).

2B Lennon, Sterkowitz; J. Lochner, Fuhrman,Sarbacker, Meinholz, Allen.

July 4Cross Plains 10, Plain 0 (6)Plain ...................... 000 000 0 0 4 3Cross Plains .................. 140 211 1 10 12 0

Pitchers (ip-h-er-bb-so) Noble (L; 1.1-3-5-3-0), Lechnir (0.2-0-0-2-0), Stittleburg (5-8-4-2-1), Liegel(0-1-0-0-0); Allen (7-4-0-2-10).

Leading hitters Plain Liegal (2x3); CrossPlains Fuhrman (4x4), Meinholz (3x3), Doherty (3x3).

2B Meinholz, Burmeister.

Ashton 10, Richland Center 1;Ashton 6, Cazenovia 5 (12) Ashton stayed on Middletons heelswith a pair of wins last weekend.

On Sunday, Joe Heise threw a gem,striking out seven in six innings.Derek Prochaska went 2-for-4 with adouble and a home run to lead theAshton offense.

On July 4, Shane Adler ripped abases loaded single with no outs in the12th to lift Ashton past Cazenovia.

Ashton built an early 4-2 lead, butCazenovia forced extra innings andtook a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th.In the bottom of the frame, though,Kasey Miller had an RBI single to tiethe game, then Adler played hero oneinning later.

July 6Ashton 10, Richland Center 1Richland Center ...... 000 001 000 1 5 4Ashton .......... 000 216 10x 10 13 0

Pitchers (ip-h-er-bb-so) Mortimer (5.1-9-5-1-2), Schauer (2.2-4-0-2-5); Heise (6-4-1-0-7), Maier (3-1-0-1-1).

Leading hitters Richland Center Wienkes(2x4); Ashton Gowan (2x5), Novinski (2x5), S. Adler(2x4), Prochaska (2x4).

HR Prochaska. 3B S. Adler. 2B Mortimer;Novinski, Prochaska.

July 4Ashton 6, Cazenovia 5 (12)Cazenovia .... 010 010 020 010 5 11 3Ashton ...... 000 211 000 011 6 20 0

Pitchers (ip-h-er-bb-so) Overlein (10.1-16-5-2-3), Kowalke (L; 0.2-4-1-0-0); Peternell (9-10-4-1-6),Felton (2-1-1-3-2), Meinholz (W; 1-0-0-1-0).

Leading hitters Cazenovia Fish (2x5),Kowalke (2x6), Daniels (2x6), Duren (2x3); Ashton Novinski (4x7), S. Adler (3x6), Prochaska (3x5), Miller(2x4), J. Adler (2x5), Gowan (4x6).

HR Kowalke, Ihde. 2B Dakotah Daniels,Wyatt Erntstmeyer.

Sports briefsYouth football camp

The annual Middleton Cardinal Youth Football Camp will be held July 21-23 at Breitenbach Stadium.

The camp is run by the Middleton High School coaching staff and varsityplayers. For camp details, contact coach Tim Simon attsimon@mcpasd.k12.wi.us

Golf scoresMWGAFlight ALow Gross Martha Brusegar, Kathy Reed and Mary Balistreri, 47Low Net Martha Brusegar and Mary Balistreri, 35Play of the Day Akiko TengFlight BLow Gross Mary VerVoort, 50Low Net Mary VerVoort and Wendy Johnson, 34Play of the Day Mary VerVoortFlight C Low Gross Georgia Wagner, 62Low Net Victoria Seward, 32Play of the Day Laurie West

Parkcrest Womens LeagueJune 14Flight A Monnie Vena, 49Flight B Bpnnie Snyder, 53Flight C Mary Nankavil and Jan Cibula (tie), 65

Middletons win streak hits 11h t l

by roB reiSchelTimes-Tribune